Betfred in running to buy Tote

Betfred is officially in the race to buy the Tote after it submitted its bid on Friday, deadline day for potential bidders. Warrington-based Betfred, led by bookmaking tycoon Fred Done, is confident its bid is among the two or three frontrunners in the battle to land the government-owned Tote.

Betfred is officially in the race to buy the Tote after it submitted its bid on Friday, deadline day for potential bidders.

Warrington-based Betfred, led by bookmaking tycoon Fred Done, is confident its bid is among the two or three frontrunners in the battle to land the government-owned Tote.

Industry experts have put a price tag of £200m to £250m on the Tote, which has 517 high street betting shops and the monopoly to run pool betting online and at 60 racecourses in the UK.

Financial advisers Lazard are handling the bidding process on behalf of the government, which is believed to be open to separate bids for either the betting shops or the pool betting divisions.

Betfred has looked at a bid for the entire Tote, including its chain of betting shops, on-course bookmakers, website and call centre.

Some observers have speculated that Betfred’s pledge to limit job cuts if it was to buy the Wigan-based bookmaker, which has 4,100 staff, may well help its cause.

Betfred’s finance director Barry Nightingale said: "We can confirm that we have put forward a compelling proposal which we believe addresses the government’s objectives whilst providing long term support to the horse racing industry.

"We believe our proposal will create significant opportunities for the enlarged Betfred group to grow and develop."

Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Budget in June that the Tote would have a new owner within 12 months.

The MEN understands that Lazard will consider the bids over Christmas and a shortlist will be selected in January to go through to the final round of bidding.

There has also been speculation about bids from a consortium led by former Ladbrokes chief executive Chris Bell, British Airways chairman Martin Broughton and Andy Stewart, founder of corporate finance firm Cenkos Securities.

Former Manchester United shareholders JP McManus and John Magnier are also said to have been interested.

In the year to April, the Tote made profits of £13.3m on revenues of £2.8bn, and contributed £11.3m to the horse racing industry.